 We Are Not the Same as You and I: Causal Effects of Minor Language Variations on Consumers' Attitudes toward BrandsAner Sela, S. Christian Wheeler and Gülen Sarial-Abi Journal of Consumer Research, 2012, vol. 39, issue 3, 644 - 661 Abstract: Can subtle wording changes in marketing communications, such as saying "you and [the brand]" as opposed to "we," affect people's evaluations of real-world brands? Despite their importance in interpersonal communication, the effects of such variations in relationship-implying language on consumers' perceptions of brands have received little research attention. Four experiments demonstrate that closeness-implying pronouns (e.g., saying "we" rather than "you and the brand") can have either positive or negative effects on consumers' attitudes toward real-world brands with which they have real working relationships. The experiments show that these effects depend on whether the closeness implied by the pronoun is consistent with people's expected interactions with the brand. These effects are moderated by people's affiliation with the brand (i.e., customers vs. noncustomers), brand type, and the extent of cognitive elaboration and are mediated by perceived brand trustworthiness. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. Date: 2012 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:jconrs:doi:10.1086/664972 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Consumer Research is currently edited by Bernd Schmitt, June Cotte, Markus Giesler, Andrew Stephen and Stacy Wood More articles in Journal of Consumer Research from Journal of Consumer Research Inc. |
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